LINCOLN, Neb. (September 3, 2014) - Heat two on the West course of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln ended with National Championships for Street Touring Roadster, F Street Prepared, and C Prepared Ladies.
After years of being seemingly snake bitten, Nick Barbato, of Whethersfield, Conn., finally pulled out his first career National Championship behind the wheel of the No. 191 KARCEPTS/Adidas Motorsports Honda S2000. Barbato conquered the 41 car class by 0.604-second over Matthew Braun, with Colin Fielder just another 0.015 back in third.
“Oh, man, I’m so happy,” Barbato said. “I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders after just missing it the past few years. I’ve won heats, I’ve finished second three years in a row, I’ve lost by two thousandths of a second after hitting the last cone on the course in 2011 to Robert Thorne, I coned away the win the past three years. This year, it was a focus on getting the car right, get the set up right, take away the variables so you can just focus on the driving. If you’re thinking about anything else at Nationals, you’re going to get left, especially in a class as deep as STR.
“I’m so happy, this is one of the best moments in my racing career.”
David O’Maley scored the FSP championship for his first career title after trying in a number of classes. The Greensboro, N.C.-native co-drove the No. 95 Starting Line/EvoSchool.com Mazda 323 with Justin Barbry, and walked away with a 0.084-second win after nailing his best run on his third and final opportunity.
“When I started autocrossing, I decided I wanted to do this,” he said of his National Championship. “I’m pretty stubborn, and regardless if it seemed like it was something I was going to be able to do, I’m hard headed enough to keep pushing. Justin asked me to drive this, and I thought it had a decent amount of potential. We changed something on it just about every weekend all year. All day both days, it was awesome.
“Justin’s a good friend, and he wanted the car to do well more than anything else. If one of us did well it was good, and I felt the same way. I’m just glad we could prove that he can build something pretty good.”
Tracy Lewis scored her C Prepared Ladies win by 0.258-second in the No. 38 Lewis Speed Shop/MCS Ford Mustang. Lewis, of Tallahassee, Fla., led the opening day over her co-driver and daughter Alyssa, who ended the competition just behind second-place Donna Bartling.
“I’m pretty happy right now,” Lewis said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever led at Nationals. We got the car together the day before we left. We made a lot of changes this season. To come out here and win is pretty amazing.”
The Tire Rack Solo Nationals continues through Friday. More information can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.
2014 Solo National Championship
